240 Saunders Rd, Riverwoods, Illinois, 60015 | 847-236-1701
Heading into Winter can feel bleak. We are getting less sunlight, and perhaps less exercise, than we have been accustomed to during warmer months.
The cycles of seasons may also be mirrored in our own hormonal cycles, as suggested by data studied by The Weizmann Institute of Science (as reported on in Scientific American).
These days, everywhere you look, there seem to be gluten-free versions of every product on the market. You can buy gluten-free pizza, gluten-free pasta, and most stores have an entire aisle dedicated to gluten-free foods.
The rise of these gluten-free products is designed to cater to the 1% of the population that officially has Celiac disease, an autoimmune disease that occurs when some people eat gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye.
However, even if you haven’t been officially diagnosed with Celiac disease, the ubiquitous nature of these products may have you wondering if it’s healthier for everyone to avoid gluten or if they’re just a marketing ploy.
Dr. Kelsie Lazzell, DC, ND, a chiropractor and naturopathic practitioner at the Center for Holistic Medicine, says embracing a gluten-free lifestyle can be beneficial for everyone – whether or not you have officially been diagnosed with Celiac disease.
“Gluten intake has been shown to release a protein from our gut lining called Zonulin, which directly stimulates something called Leaky Gut Syndrome. This is when the lining of our intestine becomes so loose that its contents can then be leaked into the blood stream and cause a wide-spread inflammatory reaction,” Lazzell says.
Lazzell says the reason this has become so common in the United States is because of the way our wheat is commercially produced. “A large reason for this happening more in the United States compared to other countries is the overuse of genetic modification and pesticides on our wheat, which has essentially turned it into an unrecognizable DNA structure to our bodies. For this reason, many people can react more harshly to gluten, which contributes to autoimmune reactions like Hashimoto’s or Celiac disease,” she explains.
According to BeyondCeliac.org, 1 in 133 Americans has Celiac disease, but it is estimated that up to 83% of Americans who have Celiac disease are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed with other conditions.
The most common symptoms of Celiac disease are diarrhea, fatigue, headaches, brain fog, depression, constipation, infertility, irritability and more — all things which can easily be chalked up to stress or missed altogether. Plus, some people may not have full-blown Celiac disease, but may have a sensitivity to gluten that also causes some of the same issues.
Lazzell says gluten can often be the culprit when it comes to mental health issues, especially in children.
“As someone who works with a lot of children and young adults with behavioral disorders, one of the first lines of treatment is removing all formed of gluten from the diet,” Lazzell says. “Gluten can have a very simulating effect on your nervous system and this stimulation can be felt as anxiety, sensory processing issues, trouble focusing, excitability, and many more. By removing this offending food and removing a main source of inflammation to their gut lining, we begin to see symptoms improve. Gut health and mental/emotional health go hand-in-hand.”
If you are looking to remove gluten from your diet, try substituting corn, rice and potatoes and quinoa for sources of starch other than wheat. For example, you can eat corn tortilla chips instead of pretzels or substitute brown rice flour or almond flour for regular flour when baking at home. When eating out, avoid eating anything deep fried, such as fried chicken or fried shrimp, which are often battered in flour before being fried, and order grilled versions instead.
And if you’re curious about whether any of your symptoms may be caused by a gluten intolerance or Celiac disease, come into our office to get tested. Make an appointment with Dr. Kelsie Lazzell today to find out more about gluten sensitivity or to get tested.
Looking for an tasty, weeknight dinner that’s also gluten-free? You’ll love this one-pan chicken and rice dish that uses a lemon-Dijon marinade to add a little Mediterranean flavor. This will definitely end up in your weekly rotation.
INGREDIENTS
Chicken
DIRECTIONS
You’ve probably heard about various types of alternative health treatments — such as acupuncture, homeopathy, breathing techniques, yoga and others — that claim to solve many health problems, but you may not realize that often times these treatments help people heal by changing a person’s energy flow.
But how exactly does changing someone’s energy help them improve their physical, emotional and mental health?
“In Western medicine, we don’t have a word for the energy that keeps up alive. For example, people know that when you cut your finger, it will heal. But how does it heal? This life force inside our body is called many things, but in Chinese medicine, specifically, they call it chi,” explains Dr. Kelsie Lazzell, DC, a chiropractor and licensed acupuncturist at the Center for Holistic Medicine.
Dr. Jerry Gore, MD, clinical director of the Center for Holistic Medicine, says this lifeforce, or chi or prana, is essential to making sure that our organs are functioning properly. “Too much or too little energy creates an energy imbalance. This imbalance may affect people physically, emotionally or mentally, so the goal of energy medicine is to balance your energy flow,” he says.
Although the idea that our energy field has a direct impact on our physical health has been around for centuries in many Eastern cultures, it was a concept that typically wasn’t embraced by Western doctors. However, over the last few years, more and more scientific studies have shown that energy medicine can make a big difference in our physical, emotional and mental health.
For example, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, studies have shown that acupuncture is an effective treatment for various types of pain, including low back pain, neck pain, knee pain, headaches and dealing with the side effects from chemotherapy. At the Center, we’ve also had the personal experience of seeing that acupuncture can boost people’s energy, support their immune system and help with their sense of fatigue after being infected with Covid.
And now, a growing number of doctors and hospitals are suggesting patients try acupuncture and stress reduction interventions such as breathing, yoga and meditation as a complementary treatment to their medical care.
One of the benefits of trying almost any type of energy medicine is that, unlike taking medication or undergoing surgery, it usually doesn’t cause any side effects and is very cost effective and self-empowering.
If you’re interested in exploring more about energy medicine, here are four different types and how they work and what they are often used to treat:
ACUPUNCTURE
Developed more than 5,000 years ago, acupuncture is a type of energy medicine based on the ancient Chinese theory that your energy flows through your body through energy pathways known as meridians. When your chi is deficient, in excess, or blocked, in certain areas, imbalances may create disease in the organs that are associated with those areas.
Dr. Lazzell explains that when you are deficient in chi, you may get sick more often, feel fatigued, have trouble recovering from intense physical activity, or just feel depleted. And when you have too much chi in certain meridians, you may have a higher likelihood of getting injured or sick as well.
To keep your chi in balance, an acupuncturist will place hair-thin needles along different meridians on the outside of your body to either help increase or decrease chi in that meridian. “By using acupuncture needles locally and distally to the area of pain, you can support movement of the chi and have an overall reduction in pain,” Dr. Lazzell says. “This is why physical pain responds very well to acupuncture.”
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, acupuncture points are believed to stimulate the central nervous system, which causes chemicals to be released into the muscles, spinal cord, and brain that may stimulate the body’s natural healing abilities.
Can Be Used to Treat:
PRANIC HEALING
Pranic healing is another form of energy healing that involves a practitioner clearing away energy blockages by gently placing his or her hands on your body or a few inches above your body to assess your energy field. The practitioner uses a sweeping technique to cleanse blocked and stagnant energy around a patient’s 11 major chakras, before bringing healing energy into those areas.
Mary Ellen Boyte, a naprapathic practitioner who practices pranic healing at the Center for Holistic Medicine, says energy blockages may be the result of past emotional pain or trauma that is being stored in the someone’s energy field, and those energy blockages may be causing physical pain.
“When there is emotional trauma, I clean and energize the chakras related to the emotional issue, then I use naprapathy on the physical issue,” Boyte explains. “Working on the energy body can heal the physical body.”
Can Be Used to Treat:
HOMEOPATHY
Homeopathy is a type of energy medicine that was developed by a German physician named Dr. Samuel Hahnemann in the late 18th century in which remedies are made from plants, minerals and animal tissues that are diluted to the point that just the energy of the original material remains, and that energy in the remedy positively affects the patient’s life force.
“Homeopathy helps stimulate the vital and healing force of the individual. With a vital boost, the body is supported to heal itself,” explains Allison Musso, who has a background in naturopathic medicine and does health coaching at the Center for Holistic Medicine and often recommends homeopathic treatments for her patients.
For example, a homeopathic practitioner may recommend that someone take Allium cepa, which contains a diluted form of an onion, to stimulate a self-healing response in someone who has allergy or flu symptoms, or they may recommend that parents give children with ear infections the homeopathic remedy Chamomilla, which contains a diluted form of the herb chamomile. Because the original plants have been diluted so much and are given in such small doses, all homeopathic remedies are non-toxic and are safe to use with infants, children and adults.
Musso says homeopathy can be used in countless situations to support the body’s natural healing capacity. For example, she says homeopathic remedies can use used to help speed up recovery after surgery, help with first aid and fevers, heal chronic disease and support people emotionally when they are experiencing a loss of a loved one or grieving or dealing with depression or anxiety.
Can Be Used to Treat:
YOGA
Although yoga is often considered a form of exercise and stretching, it can also be used to help balance the energy flow in our bodies as well. In his book, Holistic Medicine, Dr. Gore explains that hatha yoga, which uses a system of slow, stretching movements and attention to your breathing, is designed to create “a sense of balanced energy, mental alertness, and the increased ability to focus and concentrate.”
Can Be Used to Treat:
BREATHING
Not all types of energy medicine require you to go to a practitioner. Some, like breathing techniques, can be done on your own to help you balance or change your energy. For example, in Dr. Gore’s book, he explains that you can use abdominal breathing to quiet down your “fight or flight response to stress;” bhastrika breathing, which is done moderately quickly by bringing your belly button towards your spine and then pushing your belly button out, to help you feel more energized; and kapalbhati breathing, where you actively exhale for one count and then passively inhale for four counts, to cleanse the toxins in your lungs.
“Note that even though we use our physical body, the end result is to establish a certain kind of energy,” he says.
MEDITATION
Many studies have been done on how meditation can have a positive effect on pain management. And the reason is simple: Meditation helps decrease the “fight or flight” response and helps reduce stress, which also helps slow people’s heart rates, lower blood pressure and reduce muscle tension. In Dr. Gore’s book he says that meditation can also have beneficial effects on brain neurotransmitters that may positively affect your mood. So simply by quieting our mind, we are able to affect our physical, mental and emotional states.
Can Be Used to Treat:
Contact us to find out more about the types of energy medicine practiced at the Center for Holistic Medicine. Make an appointment to have an acupuncture treatment with Dr. Kelsie Lazzell, a pranic healing treatment with Mary Ellen Boyte, or a homeopathic consultation with Allison Musso or Dr. Jerry Gore today!
Looking for a hearty meal that fits into a Keto-friendly diet? This dish is easy to make and the quinoa has more protein than using another starch, such as rice. You’ll love the meaty, earthy texture of this dish!
INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS
Dr. Jerry Gore, MD, the clinical director of the Center for Holistic Medicine, was recently interviewed about his book, Holistic Medicine, by psychologist Timothy J. Hayes, host of the On Your Mind podcast. In the episode, Dr. Gore talks about the promise of using a holistic approach to medicine, explains about the benefits of homeopathy, and discusses the difference between psychology and spirituality. Take a listen!
Have you ever wondered if your digestion system is working properly? Do you ever suffer from bloating, constipation, diarrhea or abdominal pain? Even if you are having bowel movements consistently, if they are too hard, too loose or too smelly, that could also be a sign that your digestion system isn’t working properly.
When your body isn’t digesting normally, it prevents your liver from being able to get rid of all of the toxins in your body, causing the overall level of toxins in your body to increase. This can cause a host of issues, including fatigue, brain fog, depression, sleep impairment, and an increased risk of inflammatory diseases.
What Is Normal Digestion?
So what does normal digestion look like? According to Dr. Kelsie Lazzell, DC, ND, a chiropractor and naturopathic practitioner at the Center for Holistic Medicine, most people should be having between one to three bowel movements a day, ideally one hour after eating, and they should be well-formed (like a sausage or hot dog), easy to pass with limited straining, should not contain any undigested foods except corn or quinoa, and should lack a foul smell.
Dr. Lazzell also says it should take about 10 to 20 minutes to fully pass a bowel movement — something many of us don’t give ourselves proper time for. “Unfortunately, if our diets and busy work schedules don’t allow for this, our digestion begins to suffer,” she says.
How to Improve Your Digestion: Diet, Stress Reduction and Exercise
Not surprisingly, an unhealthy diet, high levels of stress and lack of exercise can all affect how well our body is able to digest our food.
Here are a few tips on ways you can improve your diet and stress levels to support proper digestion.
Drinked fermented liquids, such as kombucha, are important for maintaining a healthy balance of your good bacteria in your gut. And although you can buy kombucha, you can also make your own at home. To make it, you’ll need a SCOBY, which stands for a Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast, which you can buy at health food stores or online retailers like Amazon or Etsy. And then get brewing!
INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS
Being pregnant can often be a fun and exciting time in a woman’s life, but it can also come with its fair share of challenges. From nausea and acid reflux to trouble sleeping, back and hip pain and swelling ankles and feet, pregnant women often have to deal with a slew of uncomfortable things as their bodies grow and change.
Thankfully, there are many safe and effective things you can do to ease your discomfort as you go through pregnancy and that can help prepare you to have a healthy birth. Here are 7 tips from our practitioners that can help you have an easier pregnancy.
1. Try Webster Technique
The Webster Technique is a very low-force, gentle type of chiropractic manipulation that is designed to optimize the nervous system’s input into the muscles, ligaments, and bones in the pelvis area. This helps treat and prevent joint dysfunction, which is linked to an unideal position of the baby in the mother’s womb, as well as a more difficult pregnancy and labor. Webster technique is fantastic at reducing the pressure on a woman’s back and pelvic organs, and it allows the baby more room to grow.
Dr. Kelsie Lazzell, DC, ND, a chiropractor and naturopathic practitioner at the Center for Holistic Medicine, has a drop table that is specifically designed to use with pregnant women to do the Webster Technique, and she says this type of chiropractic adjustment can work wonders for helping ease pregnancy-related issues such as acid reflux, low back pain and sciatica pain. “It’s all about finding the specific ligaments and tendons that are tight and releasing those to help restore movement,” she says. “And it’s also fantastic to avoid a breached position for a baby and to adjust the baby’s position to make birth easier.”
2. Try Craniosacral Therapy
Like Naprapathy, craniosacral therapy is a gentle type of bodywork that treats the emotional and physical body and can also be beneficial for reducing pregnancy-related issues. Mary Ellen Boyte, DN, a doctor of Naprapathy at the Center for Holistic Medicine, explains that when she uses craniosacral therapy on a patient, she places her hand under the patient’s head and spine to examine the movement of fluids in and around his or her central nervous system, and then applies gentle pressure to release any restrictions in the fascial system to help release muscle tensions and allow the body’s organs to work properly. Boyte says craniosacral therapy can be especially helpful in pregnant women to free up any restrictions to the spine, which can help relieve low back pain, sciatica pain, and headaches, as well as to relieve nausea and improve sleep. “Also, craniosacral therapy can be used closer to someone’s due date to help their pelvis prepare for delivery,” Boyte says.
2. Get Acupuncture Treatments
Suffering from nausea or acid reflux in your pregnancy? Feeling anxious and having a hard time sleeping? If so, you may want to book an appointment with an acupuncturist. In fact, a scientific review that was published in 2021 looked at 16 previous studies and determined that acupuncture is a safe and effective treatment for nausea, and other studies have found that acupuncture is an effective treatment for low back pain and depression.
Dr. Lazzell, who is also a licensed acupuncturist, says acupuncture can also be used close to the end of your pregnancy to induce labor. “If you’re getting to week 35, we’ll do cervical ripening to help prepare the tissues and use induction points as well to prepare for labor,” she says.
4. Take a Prenatal Vitamin
When you are pregnant, it is more important than ever to make sure you are getting all of the nutrients you need. To do that, Patricia DeAngelis, a functional nurse practitioner at the Center for Holistic Medicine, suggests taking a prenatal vitamin, which usually contains three nutrients essential for a baby’s development: folic acid, DHA and iodine. “Folic acid is an important nutrient to reduce the risk of neural tube defects in the growing fetus,” DeAngelis says. “DHA is an omega 3 fatty acid that supports the baby’s brain, eyes, and nervous system. It also has been shown to prevent pre-term labor, increase birth weight and support postpartum mood in new mothers. And iodine is an essential component of thyroid hormones, which is important because untreated thyroid problems during pregnancy are linked to premature birth, miscarriages and stillbirths,” she says.
5. Get Your Micronutrients Tested
However, prenatal vitamins may not include all of the nutrients that you need for optimum health. That’s why DeAngelis and Dr. Lazzell recommend getting a micronutrient test (which we offer at the Center), to see what nutrients you have enough of and what you need to take more of.
Dr. Lazzell says two vitamins that pregnant mothers are often deficient in that aren’t included in prenatal vitamins is vitamin D and choline, which is a type of B vitamin. “Low levels of vitamin D in pregnant mothers has been shown to cause cavities in children’s teeth when they get older,” Dr. Lazzell says. “And choline is really fantastic at supporting the placenta, which serves as the baby’s liver while it’s in the womb.” Lazzell says you can get choline in a supplement form or you can get it by eating high-quality eggs or butter.
6. Drink Enough Water
We all know that pregnant women need more calories per day than non-pregnant women, but did you know that they need to drink more water, too? You need more water to support your increased metabolism, and your higher blood volume. Dehydration can cause your feet, ankles and feet to swell (fluid retention actually gets better when you drink more, despite what you may think). And, according to Jennifer Eisenstein, DNP, a board certified family nurse practitioner who specializes in children’s and women’s health at the Center for Holistic Medicine, “It’s important to increase your fluids as dehydration causes a lot of false labor scares especially in the last trimester.”
7. Try Homeopathy
Dr. Jerry Gore, MD, the clinical director of the Center for Holistic Medicine, suggests using homeopathy to relieve pregnancy-related issues. “Under the supervision of a qualified practitioner, homeopathic remedies may help with nausea of pregnancy, fatigue during pregnancy, depression during pregnancy as well as postpartum depression,” he says. More information about homeopathy.
More Nausea Reducing Tips
If you’re suffering from a lot of nausea during your pregnancy, here are a few things you can try:
Salmon is a great source of omega 3 fatty acids, and is always listed as one of the most healthy types of protein you can eat. This version uses a bit of garlic, lemon and spices to add a little extra zing to this favorite dish!
INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS
Note: Herbes de Provence is French-style blend available where bottled herbs and spices are sold. If using fresh herbs, a mix of basil, oregano and parsley would work well.